Extraadrenal pheochromocytoma: detection during pregnancy using MR imaging

This case report demonstrates the usefulness of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to demonstrate an abdominal mass during pregnancy. A pregnant woman presented in midgestation with symptoms and chemical evidence of a pheochromocytoma. The use of MR imaging permitted early localization of a retrouterine tumor when it would have been undesirable for the woman to undergo computed tomography because of radiation exposure. Evaluation of the MR images formed the basis of the therapeutic strategy used by the patient's physicians.